Story: The Companion of His Future LifeAuthor:Jack CaldwellStory URL: Story Link – AmazonStory URL: Story Link – B&NExcerpt URL: Excerpt from Chapters 1-2Rating: All AgesWord count: 244 pagesSummary: One of the great “what-ifs” among Pride & Prejudice aficionados is: if Mr. Collins married Mary Bennet instead of Charlotte Lucas, how would that influence Mr. Darcy’s dogged pursuit of the elusive Elizabeth?
In this breezy and hilarious re-telling of Jane Austin’s classic novel, the author explores what would have changed — and what would have not — had two of literature’s most self-righteous characters found their way together. Jane goes with Elizabeth to Kent, and the fur flies! A wonderful, mad-cap romp!

Gioia’s Rec:This spectacular story explores the question of what would’ve happened if Mr. Collins had married Mary instead of Charlotte, and specifically how that would’ve impacted Jane and Elizabeth’s romances. Unfortunately for me, selfish creature that I am, the story is no longer available online, as the author is preparing it for publication. I eagerly await the published version so that I might write a full recommendation of this wonderful story. It’s available in print now! I’m marking this now for a re-read so that I might update this recommendation asap.

Unfortunately, I only took brief notes at the time I first read it, and those aren’t sufficient to do this story justice. To give you an idea as to how much I loved this fic, though, on 3 or 4 different occasions, each several months apart, I have left query posts on “search” forums, asking about memorable scenes from a fic – all of which turned out to be from this story. So, obviously it stayed with me, more than 3 years after I first read it!

My only critique:This marvelous story was pulled from the fan boards quite some time ago, but I do not yet see any information about its future publication date. So I suppose my only critique is that I wish it had either been published by now, or else left accessible, as I am selfishly anxious to read it again now, regardless of any limitations imposed by publishing contracts. Or, to put it another way, the author and his publisher are apparently unaware that the world revolves around me and my whims. I am all astonishment! 😉